Guidance on Composition of Leadership Committees

All committees appointed by the Chancellor or members of the Chancellor’s Cabinet shall comprise 50% women, nonbinary and gender nonconforming individuals, and underrepresented minorities (URM), i.e., committees must include a combination of URM members as well as women, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming members, together totaling at least 50% of the membership.

Efforts should be made to include other marginalized groups, such as individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and veterans.

This requirement applies to search committees, task forces, steering committees, award/honors committees, endowed chair committees, training program selection committees, intramural grant committees and any other committees responsible for, or who influence through their advisory capacity, the allocation of resources (e.g., financial, space, etc.) or of honorific awards.

For ex officio committees (whose membership is established by position), such as the Chancellor’s Executive Team and Chancellor’s Cabinet, there is an explicit goal to meet the guideline through turnover.

For departmental or other internal committees for which Chancellor’s office review is not required, the responsible Cabinet member will ensure this committee composition guideline is met.

The Chancellor and Chancellor’s Cabinet members will report annually on committee composition metrics: for each appointed committee, the title and purpose of the committee, total number of members, number of woman/nonbinary/gender nonconforming members, number of URM members, and any other relevant information such as justification for committee membership not meeting the guideline.

Updated December 2021

Underrepresented Minorities

UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach: At UCSF our working definition of an underrepresented minority (URM) is someone whose racial or ethnic makeup is from one of the following:

• African American / Black
• Asian: Filipino, Hmong*, or Vietnamese
• Hispanic / Latinx
• Native American / Alaskan Native
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander
• Two or more races, when one or more are from the preceding racial and ethnic categories in this list

* Hmong is not an explicit option on the UC employment forms at this time.

NIH: Underrepresented populations in the U.S. biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social science research enterprise

1. “…The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders….”
2. “Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended.”

Nonbinary gender

UCOP Policy on Gender Recognition and Lived Name: An umbrella term for genders other than woman or man, including genders with aspects of both or neither. Nonbinary people may identify as agender, genderqueer, gender fluid, Two Spirit, bigender, pangender, gender nonconforming or gender variant.

Gender nonconforming

UCOP Policy on Gender Recognition and Lived Name: A person whose gender identity and/or gender expression falls outside of dominant social norms.

In April 2013, the UCSF campus established a guideline that all committees should comprise 25% women or those who are underrepresented in medicine.

In April 2017, the UCSF School of Medicine (SOM) revised its guideline to be that all committees appointed by the Dean’s office and committees appointed by SOM departments, divisions, ORUs, and centers should comprise 50% women or those who are underrepresented in medicine.

In recognition of UCSF’s institutional commitment to diversity, the Chancellor and Chancellor’s Cabinet formally revised the guideline for committee composition for the campus and UCSF Health in August 2020.